Firm advises on $105m healthcare deal

Allens has advised on the sale of Healthscope’s Australian pathology business to Crescent Capital Partners.

Healthscope’s 31 pathology labs and 550 collection centres will be transferred in the sale along with six skin clinics to Crescent, with the deal to be fully completed in July this year.

“It’s important to Healthscope because it’s always been first and foremost a private hospitals operator and the divestment frees up now Healthscope and its management to focus on that core business,” said lead lawyer on the deal, Emin Altiparmak, who has acted for Healthscope for over 10 years. Altiparmak will officially be named as partner in July.

“It’s a significant deal for Healthscope and one that helps to repositions itself focussing on its core business,” he added.

Assisting partner Mark Malinas predicted further movement in the healthcare sector for the remainder of 2015.

“We have seen significant deals in this sector involving private equity, in particular in the area of retirement homes and hospitals. This deal indicates that private equity appetite for Australian healthcare assets is still there,” he said.

“It’s significant because it shows the continued interest of private equity sponsors in the healthcare sector, which has been a trend for some time now,” Altiparmak added.